Warmatrix

The Yom Kippur War of 1973 CE, also called the Ramadan War and October War, was the largest of several wars fought between Israel and its neighbors. It altered the strategic balance in the Middle East and saw the first use of oil as an economic weapon. Militarily, it was a testing ground for new anti-tank missiles, Infantry Fighting Vehicles and ships armed with guided missiles.
Since its proclamation, the state of Israel had fought several times against Arabs in and around its territory. After the lightning Israeli victory in the Six-Day War of 1967 CE there were peace talks, yet neither side was willing to yield enough to reach an agreement. Two Arab states then planned to regain their losses from 1967 CE and force Israel back to the negotiation table. Egypt, under Anwar Sadat, wanted to retake the Sinai and Syria, under Hafez al-Assad, aimed to reclaim the Golan Heights. They formed a coalition with members of the Arab League, Cuba and North Korea, though most only gave token support.
Despite the military buildup before the war, the Israeli armed forces did not react, believing that it was simply part of harmless military exercises. They were lulled into complacency by their great victories in earlier wars and did not believe that the Arab countries were strong enough to pose a significant threat. The Egyptians built on that by running a deception campaign that reinforced the idea. Therefore the actual attack, which took place in early October during Yom Kippur and the Ramadan, jewish and islamic holidays respectively, came as a surprise. Only just before it did Israel start to mobilize. The country considered to have its air force launch a pre-emptive strike, but abandoned that idea as that would make them the agressor and lose all hope of help by allies, including the USA.
So it was the Egyptian air force that opened the war, striking targets in the Sinai, though it suffered substantial losses by counterattack from the Israeli air force. Engineers followed up, building pontoon bridges over the Suez Canal and breaching the sand wall on the opposite bank with water cannons. The Egyptian army crossed the Suez Canal with 100,000 soldiers, 1,350 tanks, 2,000 guns and heavy mortars, facing an Israeli garrison of only 450 men spread over 16 forts, with a rearguard of 290 tanks. These tanks, which rushed headlong in to counterattack, suffered heavy losses from enemy infantry armed with RPGs and heavier anti-tank missiles; several Israeli aircraft were shot down by Egyptian surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) and others chased away. Nonetheless it took repeated assaults and days-long sieges to take the forts. Afterwards, the Egyptians dared dared not advance beyond the umbrella of the SAMs, fearing a counterattack by the superior Israeli air force, like had happened in previous conflicts.
In the meanwhile, the Syrian army attacked Israeli positions in the Golan Heights with 28,000 men, 800 tanks and 600 guns, equipped with Infantry Fighting Vehicles and night vision equipment, against 3,000 Israeli infantry, 180 tanks and 60 guns. Israel considered the northern front to be the most important of the two because unlike the south, it lacked a substantial buffer zone. Its garrisons fought desperately to retain the advantage of the rugged terrain of the hills. The Syrian attack was not as well prepared as the Egyptian one, leading to traffic jams and severe losses among the attackers, but the numerical advantage was large. Israel rushed reserves to the front, throwing them into battle without preparation. However they were experienced and well trained and like the troops who were already at the front, performed well. The Israeli air force, here too faced with solid air defense, partially bypassed it, violating Lebanese airspace to strike from the flank. The Syrians almost broke into Israel proper, but were halted by the Israeli reserves in the nick of time. After three days the tide turned and it was the Israelis' turn to advance. They pushed the Syrians back and then crossed the border. Now fighting on home soil, the Syrian army, with help of Iraq and Jordan, stalled the counterattack.
At the third front, at sea, the Egyptian, Syrian and Israeli navies attacked oil rigs and each other in several battles. The Israeli navy did better than the army and air force; missile boats protected by electronic countermeasures proved their effectiveness and won one fight after another. After the Israeli navy had established its dominance at sea, it blockaded oil transports, shelled Egyptian and Syrian coastlines and provided escorts for convoys that supplied Israel, keeping the country in the war.
In the southern theater, several units of Egyptian commandos tried to land behind enemy lines, however most of their helicopters were shot down. Infantry and armor advanced, but were decisively repulsed. Then the Israelis, urged on by their politicians to capitalize on their initial success, launched a counterattack of their own. They crossed the canal, slipped into a gap between two enemy armies and advanced into African Egypt. The collapse of the Syrian offensive allowed the air force to relocate aircraft to the south, further strengthening the attack. Egyptian airbases and SAM-sites were prime targets, in an attempt to give the Israeli aircraft more freedom. The ground attack advanced some 15 kilometers west, but then slowed because the Egyptians regrouped, though the Israelis surrounded the Egyptian 3rd Army. Both sides now had forces on the opposite banks of the Suez Canal.
After 2½ weeks of fighting, the United Nations called for a ceasefire, which did not take effect. Nonetheless a week later most fighting had petered out, though skirmishes continued until January 1974 CE. Israel suffered approximately 11,000 casualties, including 2,600 killed; lost 400 tanks and 100 aircraft. Arab casualties and prisoners are estimated at roughly 23,000 plus 2,250 tanks, 450 aircraft and 20 ships. Israel had won the war, but the previous myth of its invincibility was shattered and thus ironically it was the prestige of the Arab countries that rose. With both sides smarting from the losses, peace talks now gained results. Step-by-step Israeli forces in the south retreated to pre-war lines and after a few years Egypt normalized its relations with the country, though only a part of the Golan Heights was returned to Syria.
During the war, the USSR supported Egypt and Syria; the USA Israel. Both supplied weapons, ammunition and intelligence gathered by spyplanes. They also used threats to withdraw of this support to limit the extent of the war and prevent one side of defeating the other completely. Arab countries punished the USA and several allies for their involvement with a temporary oil embargo. That, more than the war, bolstered the power of the Arab League.